The invention relates generally to air conditioning systems and, more particularly, to a modular condenser coil arrangement for a condenser of an air conditioning system.
In a conventional air conditioning system, the condenser of the refrigeration circuit is located exterior to a building. Typically, the condenser includes a condensing coil, a fan for circulating a cooling medium over the condensing coil. The air conditioning system further includes an indoor unit having an evaporator for transferring heat energy to the indoor air to be conditioned.
Air cooled condensers including air cooled chillers and rooftops, are often used for applications requiring large capacity cooling and heating. Because larger condenser coil surfaces are needed for the functionality of the system, the condenser generally includes a plurality of condensers units. Each of these condenser units includes a heat exchanger coil arranged generally laterally within a condenser housing such that the units may be stacked to accommodate a maximum micro-channel heat exchanger length. Multiple fans are located on top of the condenser housing for each unit.
For instance, in lateral V-shaped coil arrangements, air enters through either side of the condenser housing, makes an abrupt 90 degree turn, passes through one of the legs of the V, turns again, and exits in an upward direction. This results in an uneven air distribution and variable face velocity across the condenser coil. Further non-uniformities and inefficiencies can be caused during single fan operation. The lateral V-shaped coil arrangement does not allow for one fan/one coil operation and fan to fan short circuiting can become a problem. The conventional condenser arrangements suffer from other inherent issues as well including issues related to water drainage and heat pump applications.